


Right from the Start

by Starrie_Wolf



Series: Starrie's Yuletide Gifts 2019 [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Exploration of dynamic-coded behaviour in teams, Gen, Non-traditional A/B/O Dynamics, Pre-Shippuden, character introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21953137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrie_Wolf/pseuds/Starrie_Wolf
Summary: Hatake Kakashi doesn't know why the council, in all their esteemed non-existent wisdom, thinkshewould make a good jounin-sensei.Some betas can do it, can take on the defining qualities of a different dynamic, but not Kakashi. He’s tried, but he’s just not cut out to inspire anybody like an alpha, or protect anybody like an omega.(Everyone he's ever tried to protect has ended up dead.)
Relationships: Dai-nana-han | Team 7 & Hatake Kakashi
Series: Starrie's Yuletide Gifts 2019 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1579774
Comments: 3
Kudos: 153





	Right from the Start

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EternalEclipse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternalEclipse/gifts).



> Merry Christmas Eclipse, I hope you enjoy this! Haha I can't believe I've never posted a Naruto fic before.
> 
> For the prompt "we've got a lot of stuff about mates in abo, but how about kakashi mentoring team 7 in sth related, like how scents or different types apply to ninja work or something, with the dynamics playing into how an abo teacher+student relationship or team dynamics works?"

Kakashi doesn’t know why the council keeps trying to foist a genin team on him.

He’s a beta through-and-through, good at following orders but nothing else. Some betas can do it, can take on the qualities of a different dynamic, but not Kakashi. He’s _tried_ , but he’s just not cut out to inspire anybody, or protect anybody.

(He tries not to think about the fact that everyone he’s ever tried to protect is dead. Some days, he even succeeds for a few hours.)

A wide-eyed, impressionable trio of genin is the last thing he wants – especially this team.

Uchiha Sasuke, the last full-blooded Uchiha left in Konoha, and the first early-presenter they’ve had since the end of the war. And, of course, he had to be an omega. _Of course_. It’s what had made the Uchiha Clan one of the major powers during the Warring Clans era, after all – an entire clan comprised of omegas, renowned for their fierce protectiveness of each other. It doesn’t work so well, now, when there’s no one left to protect.

Kakashi doesn’t pretend to understand. The Hatakes are betas, have always been, and so the only knowledge he has of the other two dynamics are what he’s learnt in the Academy and what he’s picked up over the years. He doesn’t know how to be the primary support system, never mind the _only_ support system, for a young omega so deeply traumatised he’s on the verge of going feral. He needs an alpha, or at least an alpha-like figure who can ground his instincts, and Kakashi is _not that person_.

And then there’s Uzumaki Naruto. He hasn’t presented yet, but nobody who knows the truth doubts that he’s going to be an alpha just like his father, and it _hurts_ Kakashi to even look at him. He blinks –

_– and all he could smell was smoke, laced with the acrid tang of bijuu reiatsu, a smell Kakashi didn’t think he would ever forget in his life. Half the village was on fire, and the other half was in chaos._

_In the distance, the Nine-Tails raged._

_By the time Kakashi found him, Minato-sensei – the last surviving member of his team – was already dead._

Modern day teams are supposed to be a civilised throwback to the Warring Clans eras, when shinobi operated in packs of anywhere from four to twelve members. Most of the time, genin teams that manage to get all the way to the Chūnin Exams work out so well that they’ve superseded the pack dynamic structure in most of the major shinobi nations.

With his father dead and his clan decimated, his own team (Nohara Rin, latent omega; Hatake Kakashi, beta; Uchiha Obito, alpha; led by Namikaze Minato-sensei, alpha) had been his _everything_.

And now they’re asking him to take on a new team.

Kakashi bows his head in front of the Memorial Stone, and tries not to feel like he’s being forced to replace them.

“ _Help me, sensei,_ ” his lips move soundlessly.

It’s been two days since he’s had Team Seven, and Kakashi already knows what he’ll find once he gets back to the bridge where they’re supposed to be meeting.

Naruto and Sasuke will be fighting, because Sasuke’s almost completely feral, and his instincts are driving him to challenge the only alpha-to-be on his team to see if he’s worthy of acknowledgement. And Naruto is fighting back, because he doesn’t understand where Sasuke’s coming from, doesn’t even understand the basics of a pack. Sakura will be wringing her hands on the sidelines, because none of her textbooks, none of her civilian family members will have taught her the intricacies of handling pack dynamics, and she has no instructions to follow.

Sasuke needs an alpha to soothe his instincts, to tell him that there’s something worthy of his protection in this team. Naruto needs an alpha to teach him the intricacies of instincts and how to interact with other dynamics. Sakura needs an alpha to set her an example she can follow.

And instead, they get… Kakashi.

 _This team_ , Kakashi thinks grimly, helplessly, _is doomed to fail._

**Author's Note:**

> And then, Post-Shippuden, Kakashi realises that Sakura had been a latent omega all alone but being born to civilian parents had suppressed her aggressive instincts into the form of an entity called "Inner Sakura", and he ponders whether or not to take up drinking.
> 
> Find me on [Discord](https://discord.gg/8yJVmbD) | [Tumblr](http://starriewolf.tumblr.com)


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